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From the Neurological Center (Drs. Takamori and Otsuka), Kanazawa-Nishi Hospital, Kanazawa; Department of Internal Medicine (Dr. Motomura), Nagasaki University Hospital; Department of Neurology (Drs. Kawaguchi, Nemoto, and Hattori), Chiba University Hospital; and Department of Neurology (Dr. Yoshikawa), Kanazawa University Hospital, Japan.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Masaharu Takamori, Neurological Center, Kanazawa-Nishi Hospital, 61541, Ekinishi-honmachi, Kanazawa 9200025, Japan; e-mail: t-kiyomi{at}guitar.ocn.ne.jp
Anti-ryanodine receptor (RyR) antibodies were measured in sera from 33 myasthenia gravis (MG) patients using three peptides from the human RyR1 sequence, two C-terminal peptides included in the functional calcium release channel, and an N-terminal peptide implicated in ion-conduction. Antibodies were more frequently positive against the two C-terminal peptides, particularly in thymoma-associated MG. In a preliminary open trial with FK506, immunosuppressant and enhancer of RyR-related sarcoplasmic calcium release, the authors observed the sustained benefits in anti-RyR-positive MG patients.
Received September 25, 2003. Accepted in final form January 28, 2004.
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